The amount of time required to complete an SFD Report will depend on the Level of study you develop, the amount of data available and your access to key informants. During the piloting of our methods we found that a desk-based study (roughly equivalent to an Initial or Intermediate Level SFD Report) took between three to five weeks and a field-based study (roughly equivalent to a Comprehensive Level SFD Report) took up to two months. Where you are familiar with the town or city being studied the time involved is likely to be significantly shorter. It was also found that significant additional time may need to be factored in for stakeholder approval of the final SFD report.

A good starting point can be official documents from governments, such as census data or strategic plans. In addition, documents, studies and reports from institutions working in the town or city, e.g. NGOs or UN Agencies, can be very helpful sources of information. Municipalities, utilities or private local service providers may keep useful records relating to their activities such as design documents, legislation and bylaws, yearly reports, licenses, treatment plant registers, etc.

We also recommend that you read through previous SFD reports produced for a city or town in your country, as this may highlight data sources which you can also use. SFD reports are available via http://SFD.susana.org/SFD-worldwide.

There are three main Levels of SFD Report that can be prepared:

Initial – ideal for advocacy purposes and initiating dialogue around sanitation services with key stakeholders

Intermediate – when a more ‘robust’ and credible report is needed

Comprehensive – good for supporting discussions into investments and planning for improved sanitation services

The level of SFD Report that you develop will depend on 5 key criteria:

1. The purpose of your SFD
2. The resources required
3. The extent of data collected
4. The extent of stakeholder engagement
5. The depth of data analysis

A further option available to you is to prepare an “SFD Lite” report. This type of report is based around preparing an SFD Graphic with a minimum amount of supporting data and referenced sources for that data. The result can be presented in a very brief reporting format.

Detailed information on the different levels are available in the the SFD Manual (Version 2.0, July 2017). The templates for the SFD Reports are here.

Stakeholder engagement is a strongly recommended part of the SFD process. It is necessary as a means of gaining acceptance and support for the study. Experience has proven that the higher the level of stakeholder engagement the more likely the SFD Report and SFD Graphic will be used by decision makers. Guidance on stakeholder engagement can be found in Part B the SFD Manual (Version 2.0, July 2017).

There are likely to be gaps in the data for your town or city. You should try to fill these gaps by looking at grey literature (internal, unpublished reports) and conducting key informant interviews. Wherever possible, any data should be cross-checked (triangulated) with data from other sources. You will probably have to make assumptions about your city and town. When assumptions are made you should state clearly in the report the logic behind them. These assumptions should also be clearly explained in Section 7 of the Executive Summary (see SFD Report Template). By reviewing the reports from other cities you can see how other authors have overcome a lack of data.

The SFD describes all of the excreta flows across the city or town, and through all stages of the sanitation service chain. This includes:

• Wastewater from households and institutions which is commonly made up of blackwater, grey water and run off and includes sewage flowing in sewers
• Faecal sludge from onsite sanitation systems
• Excreta deposited directly into the environment via open defecation
• Effluent or supernatant that leaves onsite sanitation systems after solid separation
• Infiltrate, including effluent (or overflow) from onsite sanitation systems that is absorbed by the ground, or discharged.  

The terms desk-based and field-based were in use as reports were prepared in Phase 1 of this project, following the methodology recommended in the initial SFD Manual (Version 1.0, October 2015). The terms do not indicate where the study was carried out, but rather related to the level of data collection and analysis required. 

• A desk-based study is essentially an initial study based on available secondary data sources.
• A field-based study uses primary and secondary data sources to complete and more comprehensive report, which has a greater depth of detail and analysis.

When you look at SFD Graphics and SFD Reports from the SFD library, for these earlier reports the SFD Level will show as “Level not set”. The basis on which they were developed has been updated and the terms desk-based and field-based have been replaced by three Levels of SFD Report.

If you want to make adjustments to an existing SFD Graphic and Report – or make your own SFD Report and SFD Graphic, then the Level at which you create the new SFD Graphic and SFD Report will be determined by the new definitions. These are given in the FAQ #16 “What are the different Levels of SFD Report?”

The SFD process can be used to produce an SFD Report for any town or city, regardless of population size or level of sanitation service. For example, to date the process has been used in small towns with populations of less than 50,000 people and in large cities with populations of over five million people.

The SFD process can be used to produce an SFD for any urban area, which is of particular interest. For example, it may be useful to produce an SFD on a district within a city where it is understood that sanitation service delivery is relatively low, or for areas of a city where it is reported that a significant proportion of the population, often the most vulnerable, rely on unimproved services.

An SFD Report should always include a full description of the concerned urban area and full details of the qualitative and quantitative data collection methods used – as described in the SFD Manual. However, if any disaggregation of quantitative data into sub-groups is made, for example to produce two SFD Graphics representing a) the city as a whole, and b) those living in low-income areas, the SFD Report must also include both the method used and an estimation of the level of confidence in the data. A method for disaggregating quantitative data is not included within the SFD Manual, but is available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/461321468338637425/Fecal-sludge-management-diagnostics-for-service-delivery-in-urban-areas-tools-and-guidelines.

The SFD is a good first step for a city or town that wants to address sanitation challenges.  It represents a preliminary assessment which can help to identify important data gaps, priority areas for further analysis or to gain consensus on the need for critical interventions.  The process of assembling the data for an SFD can facilitate better information sharing and a more accurate appraisal of the current situation from a wide range of stakeholders. The potential of the SFD process is being documented by the SFD Promotion Initiative. Case studies can be found here.

Transient and non-resident populations are groups of people who do not stay in the city or town all day, every day. This may include commuters, traders, students, tourists, pilgrims, etc. Information on this group is difficult to establish and you need to balance the effort used to make credible estimates with the significance of this group to the SFD as a whole.   As a first step, estimate the percentage of the total population which is transient and non-resident. Data on these populations may be available in census data, and from the tourist ministry or hotel associations.

As a rough guide it is suggested that a transient and non-resident population which makes up less than 5% of the total population can be assumed to make a negligible contribution and can be excluded. Modelling of larger transient/ non-resident populations will require estimates of their patterns of latrine usage and overall sanitation service delivery outcomes.  Remember that they may use institutional toilets in hostels or public places.  Be aware of temporal effects.  For example, if you are including the impact of an annual pilgrimage event, which takes place over two weeks, then the effective contribution of one person from this population would be 2/52 of the contribution made by someone from the permanent population. 

Where transient and non-resident populations make a significant impact at certain times, it may be useful to generate a specific SFD Graphic to examine this effect.

Section 4.1.3 of the SFD manual gives examples of the type of information to collect that will help identify the extent to which sanitation technologies and services are meeting the needs of the urban poor. The type of information includes, for example, the sanitation technologies the urban poor rely on, levels of access and affordability of different service options. This information will provide you with evidence to write about inequalities in access to sanitation services in the SFD Report.

If you want to develop this further and prepare an SFD Graphic to highlight inequalities (for example to show how the SFD Graphic for an area with high levels of unimproved services compares to the city as a whole), this is explained further in FAQ #35:  Can I use the SFD process to make an SFD for a sub-area within a city, or for a particular sub-group within the city population?